an exploration of my curiosity for design, sustainability, advertising, pop culture, the northwest, and life.

06/16/2010

Love it, hate it, embrace it, feel it or whatever it is this song has constantly been on repeat on my ipod. Play this at the gym and you will have an amazing 5 min workout. I promise you! Can't wait to hear the rest of her album on July 2nd.

Puma has teamed up with fuseproject to find a solution to reduce cardboard shoe boxes. The outcome is Clever Little Bag. This idea is a simple, yet innovative solution to reduce the carbon footprint of Puma and also reduce the waste of cardboard and paper. In today's business world, its important for companies to step back and look at how they can improve their sustainability practices. To succeed, you must be innovative, creative and fearless. Puma does just that.

06/01/2010

With the World Cup just around the corner, you'll find that I'll be posting more content about my favorite sporting event. While reading through Fast Company, I found this beautiful slideshow from 14 artists that have created their own interpretation of the World Cup through art. I'll keep this post simple and sweet but look for the beauty of some of the simplicity, complexity, colors and design of these beautiful pieces of work. Also, let these beautiful pieces of art get you get excited for a gathering of culture, people, talent, music and love for the game of soccer!

05/19/2010

Okay there will not be another bike post after this but I couldn't help it. Kickstand Coffee made its debut in Brooklyn this past weekend with great success. Why is this worth blogging about? Well, this coffee is transported and powered completely by bicycles. The bicyclists/Kickstand Crew/baristas travel wherever they please throughout the city while providing environmentally friendly transported coffee.

Traveling isn't easy, but the Kickstand crew manages to transport 160 pounds each on a cart. And the good news is the coffee is great too! Next time your in New York try to locate the mobile Kickstand Coffee.

For a majority of Americans, riding our bikes everywhere we go isn't a reality. Our constant need for cars is a habitat we can't seem to break. Although many people use public transportation in the U.S., its still not our first choice for transportation to and from wherever we need to go. Imagine if we had rush hour bike traffic when we headed to work? Crazy thought right? Well in Utrecht, Holland they deal with rush hour bike traffic everyday. In this bike friendly city, 33% of all trips are made by bicycle.

Watch this video in awe and think of the possibilities of a new and efficient kind of rush hour; bike traffic.

David McCandless has created a beautiful info-graphic of each country's individual claim to #1 rank. The rankings range from demographics, crime, commodities, and technology. A lot of these #1's are not something countries should be proud of. The United States for example is ranked #1 in the World for serial killlers. Uhhh...yikes! But if you like pistachios then I highly recommend you go visit Iran or if you're just seeking happiness then take a trip to Costa Rica. Either way, this infographic will give you great insight the next time you leave the country.

Check it out and see what countries best fit your lifestyle. Click on the link to get the full map.

05/18/2010

I recently had the amazing opportunity to go to NYC with 40 students and an amazing professor from the University of Oregon. Our Advertising program got to partake in the One Show events and also explore some of the most recognizable ad agencies in the world.

While listening to Craig Damrauer at JWT talk about making yourself become interesting and passionate about life, he told us about the infamously popular garage artist of New York City. Justin Gignac sells packaged garbage as art. I know what your thinking...take a moment to process. Are people really buying packaged NYC garbage to sit on their coffee table or bookshelf? The answer is yes. This garbage is to show not only the art of garbage, but also to remember a special a moment of time.

Can't remember New Year's Eve 2010 in Times Square? Don't worry there is a packaged cube of garbage for that special occasion. Gignac also has specialized garbage from Obama's Inauguration. Special moments call for special garbage.

I realized that after I saw how bizarre it is to sell New York City garbage its also really interesting. That's the point that Craig Damrauer was trying to make. Selling garbage is something people will talk about and become interested. So find your niche and get people talking!

04/29/2010

W+K is the best at making inspiring stories through sports. Their latest inspiring ad is "United" for ESPN, which will be covering the World Cup this June. The message is to put aside all world differences and conflicts to united all nations together for one event, the World Cup. Watch this great commercial and get pumped for the World's biggest event! Enjoy.

If you have noticed that I have been writing about Ecuador and Chevron in a lot of my posts its for a purpose. In my Green Brand Strategies my group decided to focus on this issue. If you want to learn more, we have created a blog that we plan to keep updated with information about the trial, Chevron and what is happening with the cleanup. Here's the link and go check it out!